We wanted you to be aware that since January 22nd, we've received information about 10 confirmed cases of influenza in our students. All involved thus far have been recovering well. We are finding these cases to be scattered throughout the school and have not found any significant clustering at this time. For historical perspective, with the H1N1 flu in 2009, we often saw one child out on a day with up to half the class out the next. Unfortunately we anticipate the numbers of flu to increase as the incidence in the State and Nation is expected to climb.

We will continue to track illness, so please be sure to alert the Health Office directly if your child has been diagnosed by a physician with flu, strep, pneumonia, bronchitis or other communicable illness.

At this time, the MA Department of Public Health does not require schools to send notification of influenza to families. In this regard, influenza is different than Strep, which requires antibiotics to prevent complications. If your child has a fever, cough, sore throat, body aches, headache, chills, fatigue and sometimes vomiting and diarrhea, it is important to contact your provider for guidance.

Here are some ways to help prevent the spread of illness include:

Receiving the Flu vaccine

Handwashing

Using hand sanitizer if soap and water are not available.

Covering coughs and sneezes with a tissue or upper sleeve

Encouraging your children to keep their hands away from their faces

Keeping your children home if you suspect flu symptoms and not returning them until they are fever-free for 24 hours - ( without fever- lowering medications)-.

For the 2017-2018 school year we've earned $233.70 for Gates School, lets keep that momentum going. The next submission date is March 1, 2018 so please send in your box tops soon. There's a collection box in the front office at Gates and at Roche Bros. Please make sure Box Tops are trimmed and cut along the dotted lines.

The "Souper Bowl" Food Drive

The Gates Student Council is holding a "Souper Bowl" to collect food for the Acton Food Pantry from now until February 16th. Non-perishable foods are needed, especially canned fruit, 100% juice boxes, canned fish (tuna, sardines, salmon, mackerel), spaghetti sauce, cereal, peanut butter, jelly and baked beans. Items may be brought to the box in the main lobby.

Thank you for your support,

Gates Student Council

Shop and Support Gates

Donelan's Receipts for Education

Donelan's Supermarkets proudly sponsors the Register Tapes for Education Program to make a difference in local communities. Simply collect Donelan's receipts and deposited them in the collection center outside the Gates school office. These receipts are then converted into points and redeemed for equipment and supplies for Gates School.

AmazonSmile

Shopping on AmazonSmile is a simple and automatic way for you to support Gates school. Just sign up at AmazonSmile and register Paul P. Gates School PTO as your designated charity. Then every time you shop, AmazonSmile donates 0.5% of your purchase price to the Gates PTO. Don't forget to bookmark the website.

Box Tops for Education

The Box Tops for Education program is an easy way to earn cash for Gates school. Simply clip Box Tops on hundreds of products at your local grocery store and place them in the collection box outside of the Gates school office. For each one, Gates receives 10 cents and it really adds up.

"This Week at Gates" is distributed at the beginning of each week. If you have a submission you'd like to have included in the weekly email, please be sure to email it to the Senior Co-chair Naomi Phaneuf by noon on Wednesday.

This newsletter was created solely for the purpose of communicating school related events to parents and students.